Chemistry was a careful science, you know. You had to measure every chemical out, wear your goggles, wear the lab coat, etc. You had to walk around the lab stations carefully, and be sure not to, like, spill anything. Teachers always stressed that you had got to be super careful with the beakers.
Apparently, none of that applied, nor did anyone remember because I'm pretty sure I saw a person over there in the back rub some spilled over chemical on their pants. I hope it was like some mildly basic water or something. I also counted at least three beakers breaking today.
What the fuck. Literally, I stressed over these labs because you were given your own autonomy, and I'm always pretty much a confused bunny hopping around. I needed a guide, seriously. I wouldn't be able to be relaxed enough to wipe some lethal chemical on my pants.
I looked back to my own lab paper, shaking my head, and looking down at the table I had drawn, the rows and columns left blank. I didn't get to write down anything.
This lab by far was the most stressful for me because it had some absolutely confusing instructions, and I swear I couldn't do half of them because my hands were too big to fit into the pitcher. If you hadn't noticed, most of this lab needed pretty small hands.
That and—since today seemed to be the day of realizing things—my lab partners were Lila and Jamie.
Like, what the fuck? First of all, I'm deeply disappointed in myself because you'd think I would notice such loud and bouncy people in my class. Second of all, I'm confused as all hell because didn't Al say that they were three years apart? Technically, by normal school and age standards, Lila should be in Biology, and Jamie should be in Physics. The only person I should expect to see here was Al. Third of all, they were the worst lab partners ever.
Ever. In the history of time. The absolute worst.
I had gotten to class fully aware that I had a lab today; I wore my running shoes as protocol called for. I was ready to get this lab done and over with, and Maya (she was in my Chemistry class, thank god) and I had already decided that we'd be partners.
No luck. All of that fell in shambles when I heard their laughs echoing around the room (the room was still devoid of students; my previous class was right across so I was early). I stopped in my tracks and just stared at them, long enough for them to notice me at the entrance and wave hello.
I cleared my head and made my way to my desk in the front, a little ways off from the center. I began to take out my binder and papers for chemistry.
Maya had arrived shortly after, and she greeted me hello as well.
The chemistry teacher had given a briefing of the lab, and let us go. I was moving to get the goggles, when I was forcefully pulled back by two pairs of hands, and came face to face with Lila and Jamie.
I blinked at them. "Hello. Mind letting me get my goggles?"
"Er, no," Lila said plainly. "The teacher told us to pair with you."
"What about Maya?"
"The teacher said she'd pair up with her. Told us you'd show us the ropes."
My lips twisted in distaste. Maya would have to work without me. I at least enjoyed being clueless with her. Jamie and Lila, not so much.
"Alright," I said, "don't slack off, please."
The two of them whooped and followed to get their goggles. I snagged a lab station a little off to the right, close to what we needed.
"Hey, okay, so the cabinets are labeled so it's pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes, there are lab apparatuses that we have to have special permission to use because they're pretty dangerous," I began, pointing to their respective cupboards.
"Like what?" Jamie asked, sounding a little excited at the prospect of danger.
"Er..." I said, my mind blank. "I can't name any at the moment, but if I come up with any, I'll let you know."
I continued on with my little tour. "So, you also will need to wear shoes every time we do a lab, which the two of you already seem to be wearing, so good job on that front," I said approvingly. "Sometimes we'll need gloves, and very rarely will need lab coats. Long hair, of course, will need to be put into a hairdo that won't touch chemicals."
"Why?" Lila asked.
That was kind of a dumb question, but she genuinely seemed to not know.
"So your hair won't catch on fire," I said, laughing. "Although, maybe that would be pretty alright with me if it means my parents will let me cut my hair."
Lila cracked a smile.
"Okay, I think that's all," I said, thinking of nothing else to say. "Oh wait, nope. First and foremost rule: always follow protocol, and don't stray from what the lab calls for."
"What if you don't?"
The both of them now seemed even more excited, and I felt irritated that they would love chaos and danger so much.
"Because you might kill someone, or severely impair them," I said plainly. "Sorry to burst your bubble. But even then there are some pretty cool experiments where explosions occur. We might do a demonstration though, not a lab."
Lila and Jamie were pacified at this.
Finished, I go to get the lighter, a pitcher of water, and a beaker.
I set them down and look at the lab paper for what to do next.
"Can I hold them?" Lila questioned, curiously looking at the beaker.
"Uh, yeah, sure, just be careful not to drop it, it's glass," I said absentmindedly, playing around with my mechanical pencil.
As I was reading, I guess Lila took it as her chance to examine the beaker, but it slipped from her hands as it was wet. I heard the telltale shatter of glass, and quicker than a flash I turned around, yelling a rather loud curse.
And for that I almost slapped myself because the teacher has a strict rule of keeping the language clean.
The teacher came by and looked at me disapprovingly—even more so than usual—and told me to clean it up.
Grudgingly, I did, but then—here was the kicker—Jamie was leaning on the table and accidentally knocked over the pitcher of water on my head, effectively soaking my hair and clothes.
I let out a noise of surprise, and then sigh, because of course this would happen to me. I closed my eyes and told myself to calm down. I could make out the apologies shooting out rapidly out of Lila's and Jamie's mouths.
"Its fine," I said, unwillingly coming out angrily.
The flow of apologies increased, and I stopped them by dismissing them, rather rudely if thought about it.
I cleaned up the glass, and then shifted my focus on getting the water all cleaned up, and drying myself off. By the time I was done, nearly the whole class was over.
And here I am, staring at my blank lab paper, contemplating if finishing it was worth it. I resolved, that yes, it was, and that I would come in tomorrow morning to finish.
As everybody finished up and started putting their things away, the teacher offhandedly mentioned that the lab was due on Monday and we have a test the Wednesday after.
This only worsened my sour mood.
Somebody commented rather loudly, "Get your tombstones ready because we're all going to die!"
The comment got cheers of 'ayyy' and 'girl, trueee'.
It vaguely registered to me as funny but it didn't do much to lift my mood.
As I was leaving, a hand brushed my shoulder, and I lifted my head to see Maya's apologetic face.
I shook my head trying to convey that it wasn't her fault.
Not surprisingly, I heard Lila's and Jamie's chattering voices behind me growing closer. I didn't walk faster or anything, but I was in pretty horrible mood and I didn't want to do anything I'd regret.
But nonetheless I was still eventually stopped from proceeding to my next class with their still apologetic faces.
Jamie began, "I'm sorr—"
I cut him off, having no more patience left. "Haven't you apologized enough?"
Jamie only grew more insistent, and his hair, I swore, grew more frazzled as his apologies did.
"It's fine. It's whatever. Whatever's done is done. Move past it," I said, rather indifferent.
Lila jumped in with, "But—"
For the second time today, I cut someone off. "Look, I don't mean this as a way to avoid or offend you, but I've still got a class to attend. I'll talk to you both at lunch; now can I go?"
They moved aside wordlessly, and I ran to class, not risking running late.
I arrived in Fashion no better than I was in Chemistry. I was sort of expecting the sewing to calm me down, and if it doesn't, the three girls next to me will.
They were really nice, and they talk a lot. One of them wore really well done make-up that made me resent the fact that my face was so sensitive to make up. She always looked like a doll. Not in the literal sense mind you, that would just be fucking creepy.
If anybody looked at them, anybody might immediately label them as stereotypical white girls, but they really weren't. I liked them, even if I'm not friends with them. It made me sound like a stalker but you can't help hearing things when you sat right next to them.
I love hearing about how they make little café dates on Mondays that were particularly weary on them, and it really was very endearing.
Supporting sisterhood was one thing, but seeing it for yourself was another. It was a sort of magic all on its own.
I could never do that, considering that I liked staying inside the comforts of my own room, and that my friends could certainly go a few days without me. It all worked out in my favor really, but if I really wanted to be in their presence, I could just ask them.
Right now, they were sewing, staying quiet, the only sound being the soft music in the background, engulfed in their work. It was a busy week, and they had to finish their garment by the end of this week to participate in the Local London Fashion Week. It wasn't as prestigious as the real London Fashion Week, but it was an opportunity to those who wanted to upstart a career in the ever competitive fashion industry. I wasn't participating, but it was still pretty cool to be making a design of your own.
Presently, I was waiting for class to be over. The whole class I worked on a pretty simple dress, and now I was getting hungry. Apparently, being dumped with water increased my appetite.
The bell rung, and I waited for the flood of girls to pass me by before I make my way to my table. It was empty, but not for much longer; I could see Henry and Alex from the distance, bickering as siblings are wont to do. They always did find something to make a quarrel out of, but I genuinely think it was because of a lack of nothing better to do.
As they sat down, I asked warily, "What's it about now?"
"Wuthering Heights," Alex said. "We're debating Nelly Dean, you know the maid who tells half the story."
"I'm sorry?" I said, baffled.
"You see, Alex thinks that Nelly is the only genuine character in the book, but I call bullshit and say that Nelly isn't. What would you say about her?" Henry asked eagerly, leaning forward a bit too close to my face.
"I don't think she is," I said after finally being able to gather what paltry information I knew about Nelly. "She was damn sight better than literally everybody else but anybody who was so willing to spill the tea about the family she worked for must have had some kind of problem. Like wow, I'd have gotten along with her splendidly."
Henry raised his arms in the air in triumph and exclaimed, "Told you!"
Alex, dejected, flipped him, and started eating a few saltines. He must have had a stomach bug or something, because after one or a couple ten, they start to become bland and a chore to eat.
"Are you guys reading Wuthering Heights in English?" I asked curiously.
"Nope."
"Okay, are you reading it currently in general?"
"Nah."
"…Why were you fighting about it then?"
"It originally started out when Alex said something about starting to read Romeo and Juliet in English."
"That has nothing to with Wuthering Heights."
The both of them shrugged carelessly.
I sighed. "I give up."
Henry positively beamed at me and said, "Funny how one thing can lead to another even though completely unrelated."
"Don't do that with your voice," I said disapprovingly, shaking my head. "It sounds like you're on helium."
Henry looked away and scowled. "I don't do drugs!"
"I didn't say you are dummy. Besides, helium isn't a drug. It's air." I grinned at him. Now he flipped me off.
"What are you all talking about?" A lilting voice asked. "Wait, I heard drugs, I don't want to know."
I whipped my head to my left side, in complete surprise. I broke into a grin and said dramatically, "Hark! For the Queen Maya Grey has deigned to make an appearance at our lowly table!"
Henry and Alex chimed in, "All hail the Queen!"
"Oh dear lord, shut up you guys people are staring at us," Maya said, scowling at all of us in turn. Although, on her soft featured face, it looked much more subdued.
"When aren't they?" I asked rhetorically. I glanced behind me; they indeed were throwing us strange looks. I suppose it was a first for us, but Maya's appearance at a reasonably early time was reason enough.
"Anyways," I said, moving on from the topic, "how was your day Maya?"
"Good," she said, a tiny smile gracing her face. It was cute. "You?"
I grimaced. "Not so well, as you already know. My hair is wet, and my mom is ticked off as it is. We may or may not have gotten into a fight again. She'll probably force me to wash my hair, and I absolutely hate doing that."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Maya said, frowning.
"It's fine," I said automatically, as was the customary reply.
"So how come you don't like washing your hair?"
"Have you seen my hair? It's like I'm Medusa, and I have a head of snakes for hair. I swear my hair actually hisses at me when I try to do anything at all with it," I said, tugging on my hair and looking at it with disdain.
"At least it's not like it was when we were in eighth form," Maya said, taking a strand of my hair in her fingers. "I remember you used to wear it in plaits and they would still come down to your waist. I could've played jump rope with it. And maybe use it as reigns, like the ones they use on horses, for when you were reading and didn't know where to go."
"Oh my god, Maya, that was one time. One time!" I said, scowling intensely enough to make some small ninth formers change their leisurely amble into a quick shuffle. They were such prey to predators.
"You ran into a pole – an actual, literal steel pole – and broke your nose. You fell down onto the ground and made your tailbone sore. You had to go to the infirmary to get your nose fixed and you couldn't sit down properly for weeks," Maya said, amusement coloring her voice in spades.
"Oh, so I'm labeled for life now?"
"Yep," Maya said gleefully. "You'll never escape it!"
"Alright, that's it, I'm stealing your grapes!" I made a grab for her lunchbox.
Maya's face changed from amusement to alarm in a flash, and her hands darted out to grab her lunch and clutch it tightly to her chest. She jumped from her seat to the next one. I, having leaned to far forward, bumped my chin on the table, hard.
"Ow!" I rubbed my chin to relieve the pain.
"You deserve that," Maya exclaimed.
"I just want your graaapes," I whined irritably, and believe me, I knew how annoying it was, "Don't you think I don't deserve them after my day?"
"Okay," Maya said skeptically, slowly taking the bag of grapes from her lunchbox and eyeing me. I made a desperate grab for them, but she pulled them away farther from me. I repeated my movements, and so did she. It was like a cat trying to get a ball of yarn, but it just couldn't because it was too high up on the shelf. She must have come to the same conclusion because she started giggling, her face going red.
Not long later, I burst into giggles too.
"That made my day a whole lot better," Maya said laughingly. It suddenly struck me that there was something about her face that changed when she laughed as hard as she did, as if she became truly alive. There was an underlying sense of potential life buzzing underneath her skin, and I wondered why she didn't show it off more, because it made her look like a child who thought the world was theirs to explore. It was a nice look, but I guess she was always meant to be reserved until she wouldn't be.
"It's nice to know my pain brings such entertainment," I said sarcastically.
"Oh, hush," Maya said, finally throwing me her bag of grapes.
"Grapes, glorious grapes!" I crowed in happiness, and bit satisfyingly into one of the juicier grapes.
"Greedy, greedy," Maya tutted disapprovingly.
"That's me," I said, sending a sweet smile to her.
Maya rolled her eyes and took a small bite out of her sandwich.
"How much do you eat a day, Maya?" I asked her, noticing that in the fifteen minutes she was here she had barely eaten her sandwich. Meanwhile, I could practically inhale a plate of dahl and rice in about ten minutes; three if I was really hungry.
"Err, not much," Maya said, thinking about it. "I recall that I'd set a record for eating two Oreos."
"And what's that?"
"Two hours," Maya said somewhat proudly.
"Jesus Christ girl, you need some meat on those bones!" I examined her arms, which were worryingly thin.
"It's fine, I eat some nuts and chocolate chips during English, and on occasion, a bag of Chex mix," Maya said disinterestedly.
"Like a hummingbird," I said playfully. "Anything you ever do reminds of a hummingbird! The need for perfection, the way you eat nuts, oh, and the way you only nibble on your sandwich! Your spirit animal is definitely a hummingbird."
"Yeah, totally," Maya agreed. "Also, I'm tiny. Five foot two is tiny."
"True." I nodded. "I'm a big giant bear with lanky limbs. Or maybe a penguin."
Maya giggled. "Remember that time you used to tell people that your name was Penguin because you didn't like your name?"
"Ugh, please don't," I said, recalling that my friends used to call me Penguin, and on occasion if they were too lazy, 'Peng'.
"That was before you found out that your name meant 'Swan' right?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," I said, scrunching up my face in thought. "You would think I would like swans more, or that I would dislike penguins, but no it's actually the opposite."
"Humans are weird," Maya concluded.
I agreed.
The bell rung for next period—has lunch already gone by so fast?—and I hastened to arrive at my next class, as did Maya. She was currently packing everything up with her sandwich dangling from her mouth, and it looked dangerously close to falling on the ground. It reminded me of the cliché first opening scene of a magical girl anime; where the main character introduced herself while running to school with that one piece of toast dangling precariously in her mouth that she couldn't eat because she was late. They almost have high voices and 'quirky'—an oft-misused word—dispositions.
The class was empty, bar for a few students littered around.
Psychology, a class that oscillated between being the most exciting class to the most boring one.
I think we're doing a lecture today along with taking notes. We were far past from the personality unit and currently learning about intelligence. What a great way to tell me that I'm not as good or as smart as everyone out there.
But no, seriously. The one thing I pride myself in—my creativity—and the damn book told me I'm no good at it. Seriously, fuck life. I'm still going to draw and paint and tell the textbook to fuck off.
Miss Taylor began as soon as the bell rung, and she was speaking fast. I can barely keep up, and my hand started cramping halfway through. I suppose I'll have to supplement it by reading up on the topic at home.
Halfway through class, Miss Taylor stopped.
"I think you've had enough notes to write today, eh? So we'll do a partner activity now, you know, for variety. Switching it up helps you remember it better! So, partner up!"
I glanced at Maya, but she was already talking to the girl that was sitting next to her.
Oh fucking hell. I literally had no other friends in this class other than Maya to partner up with, and anybody who knew me knew that I suck at socializing. I was never meant to be a socialite.
So, I sat in my desk, resting my chin on the top of my palms, trying to look as disinterested as possible, trying to make it seem as if I didn't care that I didn't have a partner. It was fine though, I never really did do well working in groups. I liked it better when I didn't feel the pressure to conform to the answers of my group, especially when I knew the answer they chose was the wrong one.
Just as I was about to get up and tell the teacher I'd be working alone, a tap on the shoulder caught my attention, and I promptly turned.
It was Al, and he was smiling slightly.
"Want to be partners?"
I nodded, much too relieved to have gotten a partner I'm somewhat familiar with.
I sat back down, and gestured for him to sit in the empty desk in front of me.
As people settled down, Miss Taylor passed out a packet of papers, and I gave one to Al.
I skimmed the contents of it, and the first activity was simple enough. It asked to give instances where each of Gardner's intelligences can be shown.
"Um," Al started, looking down still at the papers, "you could do public speakers for Linguistic."
I wrote that down, and looked back at the directions. "Says we need to list three examples for each."
"I'm aware," Al said. "You can come up with a few too, you know."
"Motivational speakers, and presentational speakers," I said.
"Those are repetitive," Al remarked.
"Whatever works," I said, shrugging carelessly.
"Can I see the papers?" Al said, looking around him to grab a pen.
I slid the papers over to him, and I watched him scribble something down. He handed it back, and I saw that he wrote something down for bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
Lindsey Stirling, dancers, and... quidditch players?
My lips tugged up slightly.
"First of all, I'm surprised you know Lindsey Stirling," I said.
"I don't. My sister blabs on and on about her, and figured she was a good example," Al said, placing his head on the table, and using his arms as a cushion.
"Oh, that's too bad," I said sadly. "I should show you sometime."
"Hmm, maybe you should." Al closed his eyes with a content smile on his face.
"So, quidditch?" I said abruptly, effectively stopping him from falling into what looked like a very peaceful nap.
He didn't open his eyes. "What about it?"
"Why quidditch players?" I asked curiously.
He picked his head up, about to answer, but then I got my answer suddenly in my head.
I cut him off to voice it. "Well, I guess you would have to be good at positioning your body and stuff to go at the right angle and to go at the right speed. Oh, and then I suppose you'd have to have strong arms to be a beater. Keepers have to make jerky movements with their body don't they to catch the quaffle, don't they? Oh, that's good. I'll write that down." I picked my pencil up and began to write.
Al laughed softly. "You know a lot about quidditch it seems."
"No, just logical guesses," I replied. "I could be completely wrong and the body wouldn't have to do anything with playing quidditch."
"It sounds about right though," Al commented.
"And what, suddenly you're the expert on it? What are you, magic?" I asked with a laugh in my tone.
A look of slight alarm took over his face, but quickly went away.
"Yeah, maybe," Al answered.
I grinned at him. "That's really nice."
I fiddled with my pencil and looked back down at the papers.
"So, why's your hair wet?"
"Thought you'd never ask. It was an accident in chemistry," I replied. "I didn't know your siblings were in my chemistry and I got stuck as scut monkey. Doing all the dirty work and introducing them to the lab. Did you know that both of your siblings were so clumsy?"
Al laughed, his eyes crinkling.
"Yeah, I mean I suppose they are. But mostly I think they were excited about chemistry, the science of explosions."
"Chemistry is exciting. Except for when you're doing titrations and you're just left wondering whether Jesus left the room," I said wonderingly, remembering the time I did titrations with my partner, and how long it took.
Al laughed again quietly, and said, "I wish I was in your class, it sounds you have some gnarly times."
I burst out in giggles, scaring him. "Gnarly is such a weird word to use. Before you, I don't think anybody has used it."
Al smiled and tried out the word on his tongue multiple times. "Now it just sounds strange and not like a word. Anyways," Al said, "you realize that they'll bug you until your forgive them?"
"Your siblings? Yeah, I did. They wouldn't let me go to class until I agreed to talk to them," I sighed, leaning back into my chair, and crossing my arms behind my head. I closed my eyes. "I'm not looking forward to it, I hate talking to people."
"You're talking to me."
"Yeah, well you're a different case."
"How?" Al asked plainly.
"Er…uh," I fumbled with my words and I gathered my thoughts into a coherent sentence. "You're here. You asked me to partner with you and I have to talk to you to do the work. Simple as that."
"Damn, I so would have said I told you so if you didn't have an answer," Al sighed, hanging his head slightly.
I shrugged. "Sorry?"
"Don't be," Al said dismissively, standing up and grabbing his things.
"It's already time to go?" I asked in surprise, rushing to get my school things.
"Yeah, time goes by fast. I'll see you later," Al said, waving goodbye to me as he went for the door.
I watched him leave and I left for my own class.
I didn't hop, skip, and jump of the bus as I would usually do, because I definitely wasn't looking forward to confronting my mum about my hair, and I know she'd be an absolute bitch over it. It was a harsh word to use for her, but it was totally true. She treasured my hair more than I do, and took care of it better than I do and it was very unnerving. I've wondered on passing days where I was bored what she would be like if I just chopped all of it off in the worst haircut possible to my shoulders. She'd probably throw a fit.
I crossed the road and began my walk home, which was unfortunately long, and that was so unfair. It was ironic because I would literally go to any lengths to get good grades in school, but I can't make a five minute walk home. How weak. I was such a weakling.
I was surprised out of my wits when a seemingly invisible hand grabbed my shoulder and I squealed loudly.
"Jesus Christ woman, it's just us!"
Oh, that was definitely Lila's voice.
I spun around to face them but didn't stop walking; I just continued towards my home, just backwards.
"Right," I said, blinking at them. "So, Al told me about the whole song and dance. About how you're going to, like, bug me about forgiving you." I glanced behind them, I saw Al trail behind them, as if Jamie and Lila had asked to leave them alone for this. But it was easily identifiable that he was listening in, and I didn't really care. This wasn't that important anyways.
Jamie laughed airily. "Too true." Lila nodded.
"Don't waste your time, honestly. I'm a forgive-and-forget kind of person, so like, you were forgiven after third period ended," I said, giving them a bored look.
"But like—"
"But you want to make it up," I interjected. I am just on a roll today aren't I?
They both nodded.
"Fine, I guess," I said, trying to think of something for them. I mean, I had to make some sort of effort, right? "Okay, then let me tutor you guys."
"Tutor us?" Jamie questioned me.
"That's more helping us than it is you," Lila added in, unimpressed.
"Yeah, I suppose so," I agreed, "but it would get me quite a few volunteering hours. My teacher doubles the amount of hours a student does, and she gives an hour per person. So like, I'm not complaining. I need the hours for college anyways, so it definitely isn't a bad thing."
The both of them looked at me, looking unconvinced and skeptical.
"Oh, and bring Al too, let's make it a freakin' party," I exclaimed, lighting up. "I won't be able to get much in hour wise this summer anyways, since I'll be studying for my last year of schooling."
"You're such a nerd," the both of them said in sync, something akin to a fond smile on both of their faces.
"I'll take that as a compliment, thanks," I said, grinning at them.
"So, when will we meet up?" Al asked, joining us when he heard his name.
"I don't know, we'll work out the details this weekend or something," I said. "You live right next to me, so…"
"Okay, then," Al said, smiling at me, "it's a date."
"So it is," I replied, ecstatic at being able to cross off a problem that had been plaguing me this year. "I'll see you all tomorrow, yeah?" I waved them all goodbye, and sprinted home, just wanting to get the potential train wreck with my mum over with.
Wuthering Heightsbelongs to Emily Bronte, Romeo and Juliet belongs to Shakespeare, "grapes, glorious grapes" is a rendition of "food, glorious food" from Oliver! the musical, and Lindsey Stirling is an amazing hip hop violinist and is her own person.